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Common Nettle

Urtica dioica - image is under CC BY-SA of The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Did you know that… ?

…the stinging hairs of nettles are permeated by silicon?

…nettles are used as a remedy for aching joints, anemia, bleeding and in the form of an infusion (tea) as a body cleansing agent after the long winter months?

…nettles have both male and female organs on the same plant?

…despite their stinging hairs, nettles are food for the caterpillar stage of some butterflies?

Urtica dioica - image is under CC BY-SA

Urtica dioica by Frank Vincentz - image is under CC BY-SA

General info

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Urticales

Size: up to 15 cm

Habitat: forests, damp environments, weedy areas, gardens, hothouses

Distribution: cosmopolitan

Relationship with humans: useful

Biology

Nettles are 15-centimeter tall flowering herbs, often growing in hostile, human-damaged biotopes. They have sawtooth-edged leaves covered with stinging hairs. These hairs form from erection of the leaf surface, and are very brittle - they easily break on contact and the poison inside, which is thus transferred into the skin, causes pain, itching and blisters. Roots of nettles are very tough and have a bright yellow color.